The Reserve Bank Governor has
sent a clear message to the National led Government that
their failure to address the housing crisis represents a
risk to New Zealand’s financial stability, says Labour
Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson.

“The housing
crisis that has developed over nine years of National
government is their real legacy. Today’s Reserve Bank
Financial Stability Report has highlighted the housing
market as the number one risk factor in the economy. The
Reserve Bank Governor has said that the rate of housing
building “remains insufficient to meet population growth
and address housing shortages”.

“The blame for
this lies squarely at the feet of the National Government.
They have denied the existence of a housing crisis and
sought to blame everyone else for the shortfall in house
building. There is an urgent need for a large-scale building
programme of affordable houses.

“Only Labour has
that plan through our Kiwibuild programme that will see 10
thousand houses built each year over 10 years. The report
also highlights that the Reserve Bank has done all the heavy
lifting in terms of controlling demand in the housing
market. National have replied with weak, half-measures.
Labour will crack down on the tax loophole that is giving
speculators a free ride, ban off-shore purchasers of
existing housing and tax those who flip investment
properties within five years.

“Today’s report
also makes clear that the risk represented by the housing
crisis goes beyond Auckland with a need to increase supply
to ‘address the underlying imbalance between demand and
supply in many regions.’ New Zealanders are seeing the
impact of this with those unable to afford to buy a house
staying in rental accommodation, which in turn is driving up
rents.

“The housing crisis is putting many
families under stress. Today’s report shows that it also
represents a major risk the economy as a whole. Dealing
with it will be a top economic priority for the next Labour
Government,” says Grant
Robertson.

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